When Hell Freezes Over
by CrashBurner
Summary: When the thriving SSX faces an unknown murderer and a large scandal at the same time, chaos begins to erupt, and there's no safe place to go. Rated M for future chapters, and will also use elements of 24 in the later chapters. Please R & R
1. The Gambler

Disclaimer: I do not own EA, any of the characters or anything else in the SSX games or anything else, just the story.

SSX was booming in its third season. The championship race was in full swing with four events left to go along with the big 3 Peak FinaleRace,which went all the way from the Throne to Metro-City,and there were plenty of SSXers still in the hunt for the big championship trophy. The fan base was as large as ever, broadcasts with soaring ratings that outdid even the NFL's playoff games, and sellouts at every event. Local DJ Atomika, the commissioner, was the most excited of the buch, knowing that SSX was not only popular, but poised to become the biggest sport in America. Not only was it the jaw dropping courses(and the fact that not only was everyone surviving them, but mastering them too), but also the controversies it created. There were big arguments over the safety of the courses and how someone was bound to die on one of them soon, about allowing helmets to be voluntary, whether SSX just wanted to kill off people and using this as the bait. The last one was considered ridiculous by most, but some people stood by it. But perhaps what drew in fans more were the intense rivalries, the rumors, everything invloving all of the riders. It had gotten the nation's attention.

It was Saturday morning on Peak 3, and the temperature was5 degrees below zero and snowing. Today wasthe biggestrace yet, the highly anticipated Gravitude race.DJ Atomika was resting in his suite rightby the course watching Sportscenter, which, of course, had multiple reporters on the mountain covering the big race, ready to fly up to Peak 3. He watched just to see how much hype the event was getting. After the segment, he switched to CNN, which, of course, was disputing whtether or not Gravitude was too dangerous. Nobody except for Atomika and most of the boarders knew for sure what the course was like, but they had a pretty good idea of it.He then switched to Fox News, which was arguing that the liberal media had tainted SSX's reputation. Even his own league was the center of political talk now. Meanwhile, the SSXers were at the Three Peaks Luxury Hotel on Peak 1, heading towards Gravitude in a few hours. The morning consisted of the typical pre-race smack talk, verbal wars, and catfights. In today's instance, Elise and Marisol were once again brawling. Most of the tension wore down when the helicopters came to escort them, but you could tell that there would be some action in the race.

A few hours later, while the qualifier rounds of Gravitude were in session, Atomika had his own business to do, mainly with event organizing for next week's Ruthless Ridgerace and Launch Time after that,and a few phone calls to take care of. But he kept a close eye on the circuit, knew extensively of all the strengths and weaknesses of every rider, and even made bets on who would win. He had his money on Nate winningfor Gravitude with Allegra nabbing sliver andZoe with bronze.He bet on Psymon to repeat as SSX champion. Only Atomika and the bookie knew about these betsto avoid controversy. After his business was done, he went down to the bottom of the course to check the results. Psymon and Nate had both finished first in their races along with Elise and Eddie, and Allegra beat out Brodi for third and a trip to the semis. Zoe finished 5th in her race, and Atomika let out a silent sigh of disappointment. But he still had plenty of chances to win big. But the chance at a big pay day turned into a living hell for not only the DJ, but the SSX boarders themselves, too.

Briefly after the first round ended, Atomika was talking with Zoe, one of his favorite circuit members, about a variety of things, mostly SSX, until he got interrupted by a call on his M-Comm, and talked for a few minutes before hanging up.

"Who was it?"

"Just Rahzel, we talk every now and then. He's still pretty pissed that he got booted from the commissioner position," Atomika laid back in his chair.

"Oh yeah, wasn't he involved in that gambling scandal? Didn't he bet on Psymon to win all the time?", Zoe asked.

"Uh...yeah, he was." Atomika was a little afraid now, or perhaps just a bit startled, remembering the fact that he did and still was doing the same thing.

Then he got another call on the M-Comm. It was Powder Pete, the ski patroller. This one was much worse.

"Hey Atomika, looks like we have an emergency up here. I just found JP's body in thie river over by the second bridge, you know, the one that keeps tumbling over during the race. He fell off some gap higher up on the course and it looks to be really bad. We've got a pulse but he's unconscious, we're taking him up to the Peak 3 hospital. You need to get up here NOW!"

"What's it now?"

"It's Powder Pete, JP got hurt pretty badly and fell into the river, they're probably taking him up to the hospital right now. I need to go, sorry Zoe."

You could tell there was a hint of a smile on Zoe's face since she hated JP, but she was willing to help anyway. Meanwhile, on his way up to the hospital, Atomika checked the results. Allegra, Nate, Elise, Danny, Kaori, and Moby were in the final. Psymon got stuck near the beginning of the course after he lost his board and didn't finish the race. Once again, Atomika made sure nobody noticed his disappointment.

Don't worry, this is just setting up the scene, it'll get more interesting. Just so you know, there are 24 SSXers in this. All of the veterans from SSX-SSX 3(no Tyson, Skye, and definitely no Sid), Marty, and five rookies. Here they are with brief descriptions:

Sam: An Australian in the group, a bit angry at times, good friends with Moby and Jurgen, enemy of Eddie, will be the center of chaos in some instances

Luis: Marisol's girlfriend, the biggest drinker in the history of mankind, friends with Viggo, Psymon,and Marisol, enemy of Brodi,Jurgen,Griff, and Luther

Dana: Looks similar to Elise,not as much of an arrogant prick, but still has a big grudge against her, friends with Mac, Nate, and Zoe, enemy of Allegra, Elise, and Marisol

Danny and Ashley: Brother/Sister combo here, have different friends and only enemy is, yep, Psymon


	2. The First Blood

Meanwhile, the remaining racers were gearing up for the final round of the Gravitude race. Danny, Kaori, Nate, Allegra, Moby, and Elise all lined up left to right at the starting gate. The announcer counted down, 3, 2, 1, and they were off. After the first few jumps the race remained pretty tight even though an early crash by Moby put him a bit further back. Allegra and Nate were neck and neck for first place early on. Atomika was watching over by the hospital, and, of course, gave a hesitant smile. Elise and Danny were a few seconds back, while Kaori was beginning to lose ground to Moby. But as the front runners entered the cave Elise zoomed right ahead of them with a snicker. But she lost some speed slamming into the rail on the jump after exiting the cave, barely making it over the gap. Allegra followed, with Kaori and Nate close behind. Danny and Moby were in the back of the pack but had plenty of time for a comeback.

After the third jump, Allegra and Elise took the shortcut with all of the rails made out of old parts, and the war began with Allegra punching down Elise. She managed to sneak back up on Allegra, though, then tripped her, retaking the lead.

"Hey, that wasn't fair," Allegra sneered back at her while trying to stay focused.

"It's all part of the game, honey", Elise grinded over the car then jumped over the big gap.

Allegra retaliated by throwing a snowball at Elise, which gave her a nice distraction, but not before losing concentration and slamming into a rock, getting up about five seconds later. But it was too late to catch up, Elise was now too far ahead, and Nate had just passed Allegra, and Kaori was getting close. Knowing the race was all hers, Elise was ready to just show off her stuff. She cleared the first two jumps after the gap with ease, then decided to wow the crowd on the third. It wasn't really a jump, just a turn, but you could still jump off of it and get huge air time. She did jump off the ramp, and did a prolonged version of her LaLaLaLock Step. But she jumped a bit too high and too far. After her air time had peaked out, she began her near-100 foot plunge toward a large rock that was much bigger than her, but Elise had lost control and realized she'd crash if she tried to stop the trick anyway. Even though most of her body was spared of any major injury, her right leg landed right on the rock, and she screamed out in pain as she tumbled into the snow. This opened up the race for Nate, Allegra, and Kaori to fight for the tp spot. Kaori crashed soon after, wiping out any chance at a gold medal, but still finished at a modest bronze. Nate and Allegra were once again in a dead heat for first place, but Nate had set himself up better on the final jump, and edged out Allegra for gold by about two seconds. Kaori got bronze, Danny got 4th and Moby finished a disappointing 5th. Elise would be accompanying JP in the hospital.

Atomika was giddy that he got both the gold and silver medalists right, and tried to hold his excitement, but he knew he had a lot of money coming in. If it had to mean hurting Elise and JP, so be it, but he had won a pretty big jackpot here, about $35,000.

Nate hosted one hell of a party that night, and since he was already one of the championship contenders it certainly helped his chances. Despite choking in the end, Allegra felt pretty good as well, since she was another contender. There was still one more Gravitude race to go, and that was in a few weeks, right before the big finale. There were also two other events, Ruthless Ridge and LaunchTime, before that.

The new standings, or the top 10 at least,was issued after the race. Five points were awarded for a gold medal, four for silver, three for bronze, two for a finals appearance and one if you made it to the semis. All of the riders eagerly awaited the list, and it was packed when it was placed on a wall at the party. There were still plenty of challengers for the big title.

1. Psymon,47 points 2. Nate, 46 points 3.Elise and Mac, 45 points 5. Allegra and Zoe, 43 points 7.Moby 42 points 8. Danny and Dana, 41 points 10.Eddieand Kaori,28 points

When everything died down and it was time to sleep, everyone entered their rooms for a while before going to bed. The only one who wasn't sleeping that night was Allegra, who wasn't tired, so she decided to go surf the internet in the lobby after Viggo, her roomate,went to sleep. She finally returned to her room around 6 a.m.

And let out the biggest scream of her life.


	3. Under Investigation

Viggo's body rested lifelessly on the king-sized bed, a large pocket knife digging deep into his forehead, and blood all over. The door to the balcony was wide open, as the icy cold breeze swept in. It didn't take agenius to figure out that someone had killed him. Allegra, already drowning in tears, went around to every room on the floor to wake upher SSX colleaguesand let them know about what had happened. But since the doors were locked and only Atomika had to key to open every one of them, all she could do was knock on the door and scream. Only a few of them answered. Upon finding out, they quickly rushed to the scene of the crime to see Viggo dead. Allegra quickly got into her rental car and droveover at the headquarters to tell Atomika the news.

Meanwhile, Nate, who was one of the ones who was awake, went over to the manager to let him know about the incident. After requesting to talk to him, the manager came over to ask what the problem was. After Nate explained the situation and the manager went upstairs for a quick look, they went back down over to the lobby.

"Do you perhaps have any footage from the security cameras? I've seen those buggers everywhere I've gone in this hotel," Nate asked him.

"Not in the rooms unfortunately, have to respect their privacy, y'know Logan? Do you think he could've come through the hallway?"

"No way, the window was open and I'm sure he was aware of the cameras too."

"Probably, this is one helluva hotel. We have thieves trying to break in all the time. Usually they go after the artwork across the hallways. It's a fancy hotel but you really have to keep an eye out. This isn't a Days Inn, this is the finest hotel in the state of Colorado, heck, maybe the entire region. You have to keep a watchful eye"

"Really? Are thieves that much of a problem?"

"Yep, we had to hire some pretty good security guards to keep them in check, especially overnight. Some of these thieves are pretty shrewd and some are pretty dumb. In fact, this is a really funny one, a couple of years ago around Christmas time, one guy tried to break in and steal the chandelier. He actually tried to climb the thing and take it away."

"Did it fall?"

"Yep, and he landed right on top of all that glass too. He got hurt pretty badly, didn't die but he spent some time in the hospital. He didn't go to jail though, the local media was all over the story and they decided that he had suffered through enough humiliation."

"That's pretty funny. There're some real dummies out there, huh?"

"There sure are. Well, I can't really help you find out who killed Vig, but if you ever see anything or anybody suspicious just let me know, I have a good connection with the Metro-City police and they can take care of it."

"No problem, I'll let you know. What's your name if I ever need to contact you?"

"Roger Cunningham. Also if I'm not here just talk to my wife, we co-own the hotel."

"Alright, sounds good"

Meanwhile, right about when the conversation ended, Allegra arrived at the building, and took the elevator directly to Atomika's main office, where he was wide awake and watching some early morning horror flick. She knocked and Atomika let her in.

"Hey Allegra, why are you here...and so early too?"

"Viggo's dead."

"What?"

"Yes, you need to come over to the hotel. We've got some investigators coming over and we'll need to be real quick"

"Alright, um, let me get my stuff ready and we'll head over there."

The two of them arrived at 7:30 but thearea was packed. Police cars, ambulances, news stations, the place was packed and word spread quickly. By then everyone except a few of the boarders had woken up. It hit national news quickly and already rumors were spreading about wo may have done it, but none appeared to be reasonable. Atomika called for a special meeting of the boarders and the most important staff members at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room of the SSX headquarters to discuss the issue. After everyone did their usual routine, whether it was practicing or just hanging out, they all arrived around 6:30-7:00, except for Elise, JP, and Psymon. Elise was released from the hospital during the afternoon with the only significant injury being a broken leg and a mild concussion and was advised to just rest for a while, JP had suffered injuries that were much worse and remained in the hospital, and nobody knew where Psymon was, but that was typical. As they all gathered and sat down, Atomika started the meeting.

"Okay, I have with me the official press release issued right after Viggo was found dead, and I'm going to read it to you. Obviously you already know what happened, but if there's anything that needs to be cleared up go ahead and ask. Here goes:

METRO-CITY--SSX snowboader Viggo Rollig was found dead in his room at the Three Peaks Hotel in North Metro-City around 6:04 earlier this morning. Early reports say that he was stabbed in the forehead and that the balcony door was left open. No details are known about the murder as of press time but the murder is under investigation. Moreinformation to come later."

Moby asked the first question: "Has there been any more information revealed about the murder since that release?"

"Not right now, hopefully the investigators can find something," Atomika was still uncertain about how exactly it happened.

Marisol was next. " How was the murderer able to climb up the balcony if it was on the fourth floor?"

Sam quickly interrupted. "He used a ladder you moron!"

"Hey, that wasn't very ni-"

"Well la-dee-fri-"

"HEY!", Atomika restored order. " Let's not get into a fight here, this is serious business, alright?"

Allegra asked the next question. "Who in the world would hate Viggo enough to kill him?"

Just about everyone raised their hand jokingly. But they weren't kidding. Most of the other riders, and Atomika and his staff, thought Viggo was not only strange but a big pain in the ass. The meeting continued for about an hour before things started to get out of hand and a fight looked like it was about to start, but the tension slowly faded after the meeting was terminated.

Atomika returned back to the office later that night and still had plenty of work to do, mainly calling up a member of the amateur circuit to replace Viggo for the rest of the season. The amateur circuit started out with 150 members, but disaster struck when they all were freeriding in Gravitude the week before and a some of them were killed in the harsh conditions and most of them had gotten hurt, so his options were a lot smaller now, but he had an idea about who some of the top prospects were. After a brief period of consideration, he decided who to promote, and would introduce the new boarder to the SSX crew Tuesday, it was Sunday night right now.

Nobody would get slaughtered overnight, but the SSX crew would find out in the next few days what was really going on, and real problems would start to erupt. And the replacement would only make things worse. The problem would erupt into something a whole lot more than just a murder crisis.


	4. The Second Casualty

First post in a while, lost track of it. Some strange stuff is going on with the spacing too, just ignore it. This takes place on Tuesday, March 1st. The race was on Sunday and Chapter 3 was Monday. This will play a bigger role in the later chapters.

Nobody was really concerned about the danger posed by this unknown killer. They suspected it was just someone who hated Viggo to death and wanted revenge. There was some speculation that one of the competitors did it, particularly his roomate Allegra. But they had been friends and DNA evidence revealed nothing that would indicate she did it. Others thought it could have been one of Psymon's insane acts but there was no incdication of him being in trhe room.

While SSX was teaming up with investigators looking at the little evidence involved, most of the riders didn't give a damn and Atomika was nowhere to be found. Most of them didn't even plan to go to Viggo's funeral later in the week. For the competitors, today was practice for the Ruthless Ridge race. The actual course was closed off for the week to keep the powder clean and to prevent any major pre-race injuries, but they found some good terrain at the backcountry on the mountain as well as other nearby mountains. But those weren't necessarily safe either.

For those who weren't practicing, Metro-City was the place to be. Since the town was right on the mountain, the city itself was filled with slopes and the less populated area of town was made into a course. The city, in fact, was why SSX chose Big Mountain as the location. The mountain was a perfect fit, and the slopes on Peaks 2 and 3 impressed SSX quite a bit. But after the enormous success of the Merqury City races, SSX wanted to host another urban race, so they built a course there.

The city was a happening town for the riders, and Metro-City attracted many tourists, especially with SSX around now. Visitors marveled at the beauty of the mountains, and how anyone would want to stumble through the forests and cliffs of the mountain at such high speeds. SSX was a new popular sport around America and the world, with fans scrambling for tickets at record prices. Today you could spot a few SSXers in town, and they couldn't go unnoticed. If any sidewalk in town was crowded, it was probably a mob of autograph seekers meeting one of the snowboarders.. Jurgen was among them, driving to lunch with his girlfriend. But someone else was following him. He drove right in front of him and pulled over Jurgen, then walked over. It was a cop, though the police car had some major damage.

"License and registration, please?"

"What for?"

"You passed two stop signs."

Jurgen hesitantly handed over his license.

"Wait, officer...", Jurgen's girl spoke up. "Why is your car so beat up. And why don't you have a badge or-"

"I know, I know, I was hired yesterday and haven't gotten my uniform yet. And I was in a high speed chase earlier today, okay? And as for you Jurgen, I'm sorry, but this is an invalid license. How long have you been here?"

"He's been here a few months."

"Please get out of the car."

The girl interrupted. "What? This is ridiculous."

"I said get out of the car. You're driving illegally"

"What? But he has a-"

"Get out of the damn car. We'll discuss this at the station."

"We don't have to. You don't have handcuffs, you know."

"God damn it! You're breaking the law and you'll get something much worse than a ticket if you don't comply."

He escorted both of them into his car and drove off.

As Jurgen disappeared into the police car, the rest of the day went on normally. Around 9:30, Atomika got an urgent phone call from one of his main assistants.

"Hello?"

"Hey, there's some news I need to tell you."

"What...what news?"

"They got another one."

"...Another what? Who's they?"

"The murderer! Another snowboarder got killed!"

'What? I'm pretty sure evryone's here and-"

"Yes, they killed another one. They killed Jurgen."

"What? I swear I saw that bastard today...what happened?"

"Nah I shouldn't tell you. It's nasty as hell."

"I'm running this whole goddamn show, I think I need to know. We have the entire SSX fan base in chaos worrying about their favorite snowboarders and naming names. We need every detail so SSX can crack down on this case. I think I need to know."

"Both Jurgen and his girlfriend were found inside a cop car at the bottom of a cliff with. Their bodies were completely mutilated. We think the car was stolen by the man who killed them."

"Wait...was the murderer killed too?"

"Unless he somehow had his organs ripped out too he probably somehow escaped. We don't know much else at the moment but I'm expecting a lot of visitors at the mountain tomorrow. Investigators, of course."

"Damn...do you think we need to postpone the Ruthless Ridge race? It's only five days away and it's not going to be the center of attention."

"I wouldn't cancel it yet but I'd wait to see the reaction first. We just discovered this about fifteen minutes ago and the murder probably hasn't even reached the news stations yet. Cancelling it may only bring more unwanted attention"

"Alright, I'll wait and see. I'll go ahead and report the news." Atomika hung up the phone, and quickly checked his email before informing everyone. It was his bookkeeper again, but with some more grim news. Atomika skimmed through the message.

"Hey, congrats on your big win Saturday. I don't think anyone could've picked both gold and silver correctly. You also got five out of six in your NBA picks for last week and you took the lead to win the jackpot for the pick 'em league, pretty good man! I've got some bad news though. I think somehow, some way someone found out about your bets though. A man came up to me today, don't know who he was and said that someone told him you were betting on sporting events and wanted to know if you did. I told him you didn't but still, this is not good for either of us. Sorry but I had to tell you. I'll let you know if anything new develops but it's not the thing some random guy would come up to you and say. Maybe he knew of the Rahzel case when he got busted for it and someone else just wanted to bring it to attention. I don't know. I'll see you tomorrow and we can talk about it."

Atomika turned off the computer and covered his face, knowing the stress that would come. It was a rough day for SSX. And tomorrow? Not too pleasant either.


	5. The Hole Gets Deeper

The following takes place on Wednesday, March 2nd, from 9:55 to 6:55. The Ruthless Ridge race is Sunday the the 6th, and ultimately the final day of this planned story.

It was 9:55 and the alarm had rung. Atomika got out of bed and immediately got dressed and ready to leave. He had woken up clmer than in previous days, optimistic that the murders were over and business would return to usual after the Ruthless Ridge race. The season was nearing an end as this was there were two more races, remaining, this and the return to Gravitude, and the final race that would be from the top of the mountain in the backcountry to the end of Metro-City. It was a season of death, as not only the two murders but a couple of falls had killed rookie snowboarders in previous events, but it was going much better than Tricky had finished the season.

He knew how much significance today had as well. If things had gone smoothly today with no deaths and the gambling issue remained calm, there would be a race this weekend. He headed over to the headquarters, where the environment was far less calm. He demanded peace and quiet as he headed to his main office. Atomika recived a call just as he sat down at his desk. It was one of his main assistants, former Elysium Alps event organizer Jakob Andersen.

"Hello."

"Hey Atomika. You heard the bad news, right?"

"Bad news? Shit, I haven't had enough of that lately, have I?"

"Yeah, just open the internet or a news site, you'll find it."

"Computer's off. Why can't you just tell me?"

"Just turn it on and look at it."

Not in the mood for an argument, Atomika hung up and got off his lazy ass and checked. It was one of the main articles on his home page. It read: "SSX commissioner in more trouble"

He sighed and clicked on the link.

METRO CITY--In an already frustrating week for SSX, the internationally popular snowboarding league, there appears to be more turbulence on the way.

According to a report, league commissioner and local radio host DJ Atomika could be facing charges as soon as this week that were the same as former commissioner Rahzel Jones after the second season. Evidence is growing in favor of Atomika gambling as well during the second and third seasons of SSX, including betting on events and medal winners, and that his gambling habits may still be going on today.

"It's definitely possible," said a person currently affiliated with SSX who chsoe to remain anonymous. "He wasn't one of the couple of people busted after the Tricky circuit, but there's a good chance he good have been involved too. It would be very difficult for him to do something like fix the events, but I can see him trying to get his way."

As he read the news, DJ's frustration began to rise again, and he especially wondered who this anonymous person could have been. Unlikely it could have been a snowboarder, but maybe someone lower in his staff wanted some attention. This really infuriated him, and he called a meeting with a few of his top executives immediately. A few minutes later he entered the conference room, surprised to see everyone already there. His director of event organization, Curtis Carter, SSX Snowboarders Union leader Anna Marks, director of event security Jakob Andersen, public relations manager Robert Godfrey and lead investigator Herman Holmes.

"You all have heard the news, right?"

They all nodded, seemingly simultaneously and all with the same dull face.

"This league is in a crisis. We have a murderer looming, probably trying to kill everyone of my boarders and now, with such perfect timing, someone thinks I'm betting on SSX events just becaus emy predecessors did."

Carter chimed in. "Well, if this really becomes a catastrophic issue this week I think it will be too much for us to handle."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean we'd probably have to suspend the race."

"No, I've already made up my mind, the event is on. I already have the two replacements as well for Viggo and Jurgen.

Marks had a question. "Have you contacted them yet?"

"No, I was planning to this morning though and that plan hasn't changed. As soon as this meaning is over I'll contact them. Herman, how much do they know about this allegation?"

"Who's they?"

"You know, the investigators, the genral public, everyone."

"They'll know soon enough. In fact there's a woman from Channel 5 News coming here within the hour."

Atomika covered his face, and then pounded the table a couple times.

Marks decided to provide some reassurance. "Don't worry DJ. You managed to prove your case when they investigated after the Tricky season, I'm sure you can do it again."

"Anna, that's when there wasn't speculation about a double murder. Hell, I'm sure a few people think I did it. Robert, no one thinks I did it, right? God..."

"Well, no one really has any clue as to who did it. But there's probably going to be speculation about you. They're going to think since you would kill some of the weaker competitors to improve your chances of winning bets. It's one of those out-there theories but I think it could spread to a few people. I think we can rule out charges on that, though."

"What about the gambling. How many people think I did it? Please say it's not a lot, I've had enough stress right now."

"Sorry but it's spreading like wildfire. I even saw it pop up on CNN as I was about to leave. They even interviewed someone local about it."

"Wait, someone local...who? Is it someone who works here? I saw that on the article."

"I don't know, I've never seen him before but if he was he probably works in a different part of the building."

"Well I'm going to look for that bastard and I'm going to fire his ass. Meeting's over, have a great day. Sorry for being so bitter but the situation is bitter. Bye."

Atomika walked out the door and the others got out of their seats. Jakob had a few words on the subject.

"He totally did it. I don't know who the hell he's trying to fool. I know we're friends with him but it's too obvious. What do you think, Curtis?"

"I'm with you, but I'll have his back even if it means lying. He's done too much too help us out with whatever problems we've had, I have to return the favor. I have to go, see you later everyone."

Atomika had better plans for today. All 22 remaining snowboarders (minus JP, who was still in critical condition) were going with him to have lunch and discuss the season's future. He was firm about maintaining the events and the finale race, the top-to-bottom death trip that would determine the champion. But he would be open to suggestions. He also planned to bring the two amateur competitors who he had chosen to make their SSX debuts this weekend. Everyone figured they'd be safest if they were together more often in case someone attacked, but the timing and reasoning for the first two was a scary unknown.

While JP would not be getting any company from Atomika or any of the snowboarders, an old friend of his fromt he first SSX season paid him a visit. He was directed to JP's room by a female doctor, and he was carrying two drinks.

"What are you carrying those drinks for?"

"They're smoothies. I was always known as the drinkmaster, always whipping up kickass beverages for everyone."

"They're not alcoholic are they?"

"Nope, it's a special recipe, my favorite that I like to keep secret. I use some special ingredients from around the world, pretty much every continent, combined into this drink. It's heaven. I was going to have it, but do you want some?"

"If it's really good...sure, why not?." He handed the drink to hear and she had a sip, instantly giving a sign of approval.

"Delicious. So where do you know JP from?"

"He was an old friend of mine from SSX. You see, I used to be there too, way back when it was still obscure and not an international phenomenon. The very first season, less than five years ago. There were no big egos or any snowboarders on billboards in New York and Tokyo. They weren't making 10 million a year plus endorsements, we were all just a happy family. Now it's turned into a crapfest. Everyone's a celebrity and has the attitude with it, courses are getting so insane this year that at one point you know there's going to be another massive death toll that somehow they keep avoiding, probably in that big final race. All these crazy uber tricks. I just don't like what they're doing anymore. It's taken away the culture and character SSX had at first."

"Wow. So were you only in it the first year.?"

"Yep. I tried to stay in the second year but the competition got too powerful. I couldn't do the acrobatic tricks that they were starting to develop. I don't know how they could practice those without breaking their necks but I just wasn't that athletic. I was a pure racer, and even though all the courses were only offering racing the first two years, except for that Pipedream thing, they wanted style too. And now they have slope style and pipe and big air and all that so I couldn't cut it. I got offered a spot on their amateur circuit but figured my time was done. Good decision too since so many people died on that Alaska course."

"How good were you in the first season?"

"Below average. I was really nothing until late in the season when I had a nice run. I even won a medal at Tokyo but I wasn't near the elite. I finished 17th place in the standings."

"That's cool. Alright, here's JP's room. Don't take too long. He's awake."

"Okay, thanks"

The visitor opened the door and said hello. Jp was conscioous but was suffering serious injuries it appeared.

"JP?"

"Hello?" JP's voice was weak and he appeared to be incoherent, but the visitor figured he could have a conversation.

"Hey, you're speaking English finally"

"Who is this?"

"It's your old buddy, Ron Andrews, from the first season. Remember me? The drinkmaster?"

"Hello."

"I heard what happened at Gravitude, sounds rough. Falling into a river is more painful than it looks. Figured I'd cheer you up with a little something. The drinkmaster has arrived with something new. Don't ask how I made it but when all the stuff came together it was the best drink I'd ever made."

"I...can't really drink much now."

"C'mon, at least a sip."

"Okay." JP had a small sip of the drink and he, too, liked it.

"You like it too? Great. Well, you need anyhing else?"

"No."

"Alright then, see you JP, good luck recovering."

Ron Andrews said goodbye and left the room and met the doctor again.

"Did you just givehim the drink or actually talk to him?", she asked with a smile on ehr face.

"It didn't look like he wanted to be disturbed so I just gave it to him and said good luck pretty much."

"Well, that's fine I suppose."

"Yeah, I want to meet some of my other old SSX buddies here too and maybe help them out with anything troubling them. Say, is Elise is hear? I heard she got roughed up too."

"No, it was just a leg injury, she's out of the hospital and recovering."

"Hmmm...is she still hot with that cast on her leg? I'd like to see her again."

Meanwhile, right about now DJ was on a limo with all of the snowboarders on the way to lunch. The destination was a new sports bar/rib joint, the Slippery Slopes Bar & Grill. He had been preparing his appetite for the special double rack, two full racks of thieir ribs, which were supposed to be the best of his life. As soon as they all entered the place was packed but a large set of tables had been reserved for them. It was hard for them to get to their seat, though, as fans had noticed their arrival and crowded around them for autographs. Once that was done, they could finally take their seats. As soon as he sat down he introduced the two new arrivals to the circuit.

"Alright everyone, obviously I am here to introduce the two people who will be competing against you the next two weeks. They were both standouts in the amateur level and I expect them to stay as pros for next season and beyond. To my right is our newest chick Jamie Frederick and to my left is the one with the orange hood, Kenny McCormick. Let's give these two some applause.

Everyone in the restaurant, even the fans who weren't a part of this, clapped.

Atomika spoke again. "Now, my second priority is to get as drunk as possible because I'm fucking miserable right now. Let's order."

He changed his mind about ordering the double rack and only felt hungry enough for a single with sides. Luther was the only one to order the big one. He actually ordered three in the end, getting one after another for his bottomless pit of a stomach. Mac, Brodi, and Elise sat at his table, disgusted at his eating habits.

"You know, I've seen Luther eat before but never before have I had to sit at the same table," Brodi said.

Mac added his thoughts. "You're a fucking bear you fatass, can't you just put that down and maybe you use a napkin or somethin' like that?"

"Shut up Mac, just because I like to eat delicious shit without napkins doesn't mean you have to act like Elise would and be a total bitch bout it."

Now Elise was ready to fume. "Hey, don't call me a bitch! I'm not the damn pig you are! I care about how I eat and look, and you know what, I do both better than anyone else here does. It's too bad SSX doesn't have a Weight Watchers program or something like that."

"Shut up, you're just a whore," was all Luther had to say before he spit out a small bone chip that landed right on Elise's left boob. She sat in shock for three seconds before finally uttering something.

"Damn you Luther...DIE YOU REDNECK!!!" She took her right crutch and swung it at Luther, missing and losing control of it as she fell to the ground. Luther was about to stomp on her ass before Atomika intervened. "HEY HEY HEY no fighting here! Keep quiet, ok! Kaori, get Elise's cruthc, she might need it. Now just calm down people..."

They returned to their table, narrowly averting another bar fight. Luther returned to his meal, biting into his ribs again. "Strange, I just bit into something.

"Maybe it was the bone, dumbass."

"Shut up Elise, no it was not the bone, it was something different, something odd. Oh well, no harm done." Luther swallowed and finished his last few bites.

"Congratulations, you just ate three double racks of ribs. What are you going to do now, go to Disney World?"

"No Mac, but they will put a picture of me on their wall."

"Wow, what an honor. Do something useful and take a shit, I don't want to he there when your bladder explodes from all that food."

Luther went into the restroom as everyone else waited and waited for him to come out.

"God damn it he better hurry, he's slower than my mom in the bathroom."

"He's probably having sex with your mom."

DJ Atomika had enough. "Mac, Allegra, please just shut up. We'll wait for him. I'm sure digesting three double racks isn't too pleasant either.

"He probably would have eaten my rack too if no one had stopped him from doing it.

"Elise, enough. Let's all just wait for him."

They kept waiting before DJ finally decided something was wrong.

"Anyone want to go in there? No one. Dammit, okay I'll do it."

DJ slowly entered the men's room, scared of what he was about to see. What he saw was a nightmare beyond belief. Blood had stained the floor and all of the walls. What was left of Luther's body lay on the ground, the rest scattered around the room. DJ threw up twice and left the room, heaving one more time. When he was finally able to talk he returned to the SSX crew.

"Luther...dead."

"What?!? He's dead?"

"Yes, Eddie. Going going gone. I don't know if it was a brutal murder or what but blood was everywhere. Good God let's get out of here."

They returned to the hotel room in a hurry, then DJ left again with Nate, Allegra, Eddie, Mac, Kaori, Danny, Dana, and Zoe to go freeriding on a nearby mountain, as they had planned earlier. They managed to avoid all publicity as the story was leaking out and decided to enjoy a few hours of peace before they returned to the media. When they arrived on top of the course they were about ready to go on a smooth ride before DJ got a call.

"Hold on, it's Powder Pete...hello...what's going on...really...shit...no I don't care I just want some peace right now, bye." He hung up.

"What's going on," Danny asked.

"Luther's not alone. Another one of our own died."

"Who?"

"JP"


End file.
